Basic Audio Production
MC 118
Fall 2008
MW
Science 105 &
WPUM
studios
Office: 109 Chapel
Basement
Phone:
866-6211
e-mail: sallyn@saintjoe.edu
Course Purpose: Basic Audio Production is an introductory,
hands-on course designed to teach the student about sound, audio
equipment, and
techniques needed to produce professional audio production. More specifically, students will learn: 1)
how to operate analog and digital equipment, 2) the science of sound,
and 3)
broadcast principles in the radio industry.
This course prepares the student for an advanced audio
production
course, and is a prerequisite for Broadcast Announcing, Broadcast
Management,
and Broadcast Journalism.
Required
Text:
Modern Radio Production by Hausman,
Benoit, Messere, and O’Donnell. 6th edition.
2004.
Required Materials:
In
addition to the required text, you will also need the following items:
1. Two
audio cassettes (60 or 90 minutes tapes only.
30 and 120 minutes are not accepted)
2. Two CD-RWs
(80 min, 700mb, 2X-4X speed is recommended. Do
not get a CD that has a speed higher than
4X)
CLASS POLICIES: Each student must be fully
aware of the expectations in this class.
Furthermore, each student is expected to be responsible for
understanding all assignments, which can be found on my webpage: www.saintjoe.edu/~dept20/sally.html The following
guidelines will affect students' grades and acquired knowledge from
this
course.
Electronic Devices. All cell
phones, iPods,
and other electronic devices must be turned OFF during lecture,
discussion, and
writing class. Having a cell phone on
vibrate mode is not acceptable. Five
points will be deducted from your final grade each time your cell phone
either
rings or vibrates during class. In
addition, I have the right to ask you to leave class.
Attendance. The broadcasting industry (or any industry
for that matter) demands
that its employees develop a good work ethic and are dependable and
responsible.
At
A flat tire, your car running out of gas, running errands during lunch, or your roommate borrowed your car with your project in it are not valid excuses to miss this class. Therefore, absences may be excused for one of these reasons: 1) a documented illness or family emergency, 2) participation in college-sponsored activities, or 3) an unforeseen emergency obligation relating to immediate family or your job.
All documentation for the above excuses must be presented to me within 24 hours after your absence. I reserve the right to not accept documented absences, and I reserve the right to determine the difference between excused and unexcused absences.
Class
Participation. Each student is expected to participate in
classroom
discussions. The ability to demonstrate
knowledge of reading assignments, lecture notes, lab material, along
with
proper behavior and attendance could be worth 10 BONUS
POINTS at the end of the semester. To
receive the 10 points, a student must never have an
unexcused absence, never
submit late work, and must articulate knowledgeable comments and ideas
in the classroom.
No Late Work. I will not accept late work
without penalty. Projects and
assignments not turned in by the deadline will lose 10% each day. On occasion, equipment could break down. In such cases, you should call me
immediately. If you “lost” your project
on the computer due to a lightening strike, because you didn’t save
your work
(properly), or because the computer shutdown on its own, you will be
expected
to redo that project to receive full credit.
Please respect that I cannot award points to a project that I
have not
heard—no matter how long/hard you’ve worked on it.
Also, I will not accept excuses about
computer or printer malfunctions for written assignments accompanying
projects.
Written Assignments. All papers and scripts accompanying projects
must be
neatly typed. Wrinkled, folded, or
stained papers demonstrate disrespect toward your own work and will
result in
points lost. Hand-written work is not accepted.
NOTE: Plagiarism is
taking someone else’s writings
and passing them off as your own and/or turning in papers written by
another
person. The penalty for plagiarism is
failure of the project and possibly failure in this course (see
Academic
Honesty policy in SJC Catalog).
WPUM Production
Room Rules. Abuse and mistreatment of
equipment are inexcusable. The student
will be held accountable for the cost to repair or replace damaged
equipment. Nothing is to be removed from
the production rooms or from WPUM that is not yours.
Each student is allowed to sign up for a
maximum of 2 hours at a time. If
a student reserves a specific production time
but does not arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, the
reservation is
surrendered and the production room is open to anyone.
Please pick up after yourself and put back
any CDs where they belong.
Production
room hours:
M-F
Sat
& Sun by
appointment only
Grading. Grades are determined on a total of 500
points. Point values for examinations,
assignments
and projects are proportioned as follows:
EXAMS & ASSIGNMENTS
Quiz #1
25
Quiz #2
25
Final Exam (comprehensive)
100
Homework Assignments
50
Attendance
50
PRODUCTION PROJECTS**
1.
Basic Analog
Recording
10
2.
Segues
(w/announcing)
20
3. Basic Digital Recording & Editing 30
4.
Music
Editing
50
5.
Christmas
Greetings
60
6.
Commercial
& Promotion
spots
80
Sub-total 250
**Turn in all projects in my office by
Evaluation.
Grade
Percentage
Point total
A
93-100%
465-500
A-
90-92%
450-464
B
83-87%
415-439
B-
80-82%
400-414
C+
78-79%
390-399
C
73-77%
365-389
C-
70-72%
350-364
D+
68-69%
340-349
D
60-67%
300-339
F
0-59%
0-299
The professor
reserves the
right to add, alter, or cancel any assignment(s). The
professor also reserves the right to give
unscheduled quizzes if it is apparent that students are not reading the
text. In such cases, each "pop" quiz will
be worth 10 points, which will be added to the course point total.
Basic Audio Production 2007
Semester Schedule
(The professor reserves the right to alter the schedule, if
needed.)
August
20 Introduction & tour of WPUM studios
22 Chapter 1: “Production in Modern Radio”
27 Chapter 2: “The Console”
29 Chapter 2 cont’d & Lab—working the console (meet in radio station)
September
3 No School—Labor Day
5 Lab—basic recording (meet in radio station). Project #1 distributed
10 Chapter 5: “Microphones & Sound”
12 Chapter 7: “Recorded Program Production”
17
Chapter 8:
“Live, On-Air Production”, radio terms, **Project
#1 due by
19
Lab—combo
work (meet in radio station), Project #2 distributed
24 Lab—combo work (meet in radio station); quiz #1 study guide
26 Chapter 16: “Production, Programming, & the Modern Format”
(read pp. 350-369), review for quiz #1
October
1
Quiz #1, **Project #2 due by
3
Chapter
6: “Electronic Editing”, Project #3 distributed
8 Chapter 6 cont’d, Lab—Learning the DAW (meet in radio station), project #2 feedback
10 Lab—Learning the DAW cont’d (meet in radio station)
12 No School—Fall Break
15 Lab—digital editing (meet in radio station)
17 Lab—digital editing (meet in radio station)
22
Listening
(meet in radio station), Project #4
distributed, **Project #3 due by
24 Lab—music editing (meet in radio station)
29 Lab—more music editing (meet in radio station)
31
**Project #4 due by
November
5
Field Recording Equipment (meet in
radio station), Project #5 distributed
7 Lab—Field recording (meet in radio station)
12
Chapter 10: “Achieving an Effect”
& Chapter 11: “Drama &
Dramatic Elements in Radio Production”
14
Chapter 12: “Commercial Production”,
Project #6 distributed, **Project #5 due
by
19-23 No School—Thanksgiving Break
26 Lab—creating effects (meet in radio station), quiz #2 study guide
28
Lab—commercial
production (meet in radio station), review for quiz #2
December
3
Quiz #2, final exam study guide
5
Review
for final exam
7
**Project #6 Due by
11
FINAL EXAM @ 8am in classroom